V-Rake vs Rotary vs Wheel Rake: What Farmers Actually Use

By the XES Netting team — bale net-wrap manufacturer · Updated August 16, 2026 · ~15 min read

Choosing among hay rake types is a systems decision. The machine must collect the crop without adding avoidable soil, leaf loss, rope or twist, plugs, or a windrow that does not fit the next machine. Acres matter, but they do not answer those questions by themselves.

Start with the correct rake taxonomy

The labels describe how a machine moves forage and delivers a windrow. Configuration names such as V-rake, single rotor, or center delivery sit inside those broader machine families.

Machine family	How it moves crop	Common configurations	Decision focus
Wheel rake	Tined wheels rotate as the machine travels and roll or sweep forage into a windrow.	Single-wing, carted, high-capacity, and V configurations	Crop engagement, wheel pressure and angle, ash risk, width, hydraulics, and transport
Rotary rake	One or more powered rotors carry tine arms that sweep forage to the side or center.	Single, twin, or multi-rotor; side or center delivery	PTO, hitch, rotor setup, overlap, windrow geometry, transport, and ground following
Parallel-bar or delivery rake	Bars or reels carry tines that move forage laterally into a side-delivered windrow.	Basket, reel, and side-delivery designs; power system varies	Delivery pattern, crop handling, drive system, width, turns, and parts support
Belt merger	A pickup lifts forage and a belt or draper carries it sideways before placement.	Side, center, front, rear, or continuous merger	Ash control, pickup performance, hydraulic or PTO demand, crop flow, transport, and cost
Windrow inverter	A pickup and conveyor turn an existing windrow and place it on drier ground.	Single-windrow pickup and inversion	A specialized drying or recovery task, not a universal replacement for a rake or merger

The University of Wisconsin review of raking and merging equipment describes these different crop-moving actions and emphasizes that performance changes with crop condition and adjustment, not just the name on the frame.^[1]

Choose by the whole harvest system, not acres alone

Question	Record before comparing machines	Why it changes the choice
What crop and end use?	Grass, alfalfa, mixed forage, straw, cornstalks, dry hay, baleage, or chopped forage; feed or sale specification	Leaf retention, acceptable ash, crop mass, and target moisture differ.
What windrow must reach the harvester?	Baler or chopper pickup width, desired windrow width and height, density, and number of mower swaths combined	A wide, uneven, twisted, or overfilled windrow can plug or feed one side harder than the other.
How does mowing set up the pass?	Actual mower or swather cut width, swath width, conditioner type and setting, crop yield, and wheel-track pattern	The rake must gather the swaths with workable overlap and without unnecessary passes.
What are the fields like?	Field size and shape, headlands, terraces, slopes, ditches, roughness, stones, wet spots, and gate or road limits	Turning, ground following, stability, transport, and soil contact can dominate advertised width.
What drying job remains?	Moisture through the swath, surface dew, weather window, soil moisture, and final harvest target	Raking too early can make a dense rope that dries slowly; raking legumes too dry can shatter leaves.
What tractor is available?	PTO speed and direction, hydraulic flow and pressure, remotes, hitch or drawbar, tractor mass, ballast, tires, electrical connection, and lighting	A horsepower match alone does not establish safe compatibility.
Can the operation support it?	Labor, hookup time, transport width, storage, local dealer, parts lead time, manual access, and repair capability	A machine that misses the weather window while waiting for parts has poor effective capacity.

Dew, crop moisture, and swath width are different measurements

Surface dew is not the same as internal crop moisture, and neither number alone establishes safe baling moisture. A leaf can be flexible because of humidity or light dew while stems remain too wet to bale. Conversely, leaves in an over-dry alfalfa swath can shatter even when the field surface looks dry.

For alfalfa and other legumes, the old rule to “never rake with dew” is false. University of Massachusetts Extension states that leaf shatter increases below 50% moisture, recommends avoiding raking below 40% when possible, and advises gently raking early in the morning before dew has completely evaporated if dry forage must be moved.^[5] In the more arid New Mexico context, NMSU recommends raking alfalfa at 35% to 40% moisture; wetter forage can twist and dry longer, while drier forage loses leaves.^[7]

Ohio State and Wisconsin guidance for good drying conditions uses a broader, source-specific target: merge or rake multiple wide swaths for dry hay at about 40% to 60% forage moisture to avoid excessive leaf loss.^[4][6] These ranges are not interchangeable universal set points. Crop species, yield, humidity, soil moisture, wind, conditioner performance, rake action, and the final bale or chop target still control the decision. Measure the crop in several places and keep the safe baling decision separate from the raking decision.

Wide-swath guidance comes before rake timing

Rapid early drying usually starts at the mower. Wisconsin Extension recommends placing cut forage in a swath covering at least 70% of the cut area. In its Arlington and Marshfield work, a 72%-of-cut-width alfalfa swath was compared with a 25% narrow windrow; the wide treatment improved initial drying and, in the cited haylage studies, produced 1.0 percentage point less NDF and 1.7 points more NFC.^[4] Ohio State likewise recommends a swath about 70% of actual cut width.^[6]

That is evidence for wide early exposure under the studied conditions, not an instruction to remove every swath board. The workable width depends on mower design, tire traffic, crop yield, conditioning, weather, soil moisture, and the final windrow the rake and harvester can handle. Set the mower to the widest practical swath that the exact machine, field, and next pass support.

What rake trials measured — and what they did not

Ash and forage quality: a replicated three-state alfalfa trial

Neu and co-authors ran replicated trials on two 2015 alfalfa cuttings in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Two swaths were combined with a wheel rake, sidebar rake, rotary rake, or merger. Samples were taken as standing forage and after cutting, raking, and baling or chopping.^[2][3]

Measured result	Scope-safe interpretation
Post-raking ash differed in five of six site-cuttings.	Rake type affected soil contamination in most, but not every, site-cutting.
Merger and sidebar treatments had the least ash, 90–136 g/kg; wheel-rake treatments had the greatest, 100–153 g/kg.	In this alfalfa trial, merger or sidebar handling reduced ash relative to the wheel rake. The ranges overlap, so they are not universal guarantees.
Rake type rarely changed crude protein, NDF, or NDF digestibility.	Cleaner forage did not create a broad, automatic nutritive-value advantage.
First-cut RFQ after raking was 121–165 for merger/sidebar treatments and 114–160 for wheel-rake treatments.	A first-cut quality difference appeared in this trial; do not transfer it to every crop, cutting, field, or setup.

The study does not prove that one machine family always produces the cleanest or highest-quality forage. Tine height, wheel or rotor pressure, angle, travel speed, field roughness, soil moisture, crop mass, and operator adjustment can change contact with the ground. The practical lesson is to treat dust clouds, scraped soil, and moved stones as setup warnings, then confirm the result with forage ash tests.

Leaf loss: do not assign a universal winner

Legume leaf loss rises as forage dries and mechanical handling becomes more aggressive, but the available evidence does not support a universal statement that every rotary rake preserves more leaf than every wheel, bar, or merger design. The named ash trial rarely found nutritive-value differences by rake type. Use source-specific moisture guidance, operate the exact machine within its manual, and compare leaves left on the ground and retained in the windrow under your own crop conditions.

Calculate capacity from real width, speed, and field efficiency

Iowa State defines theoretical field capacity from machine width and speed. In US units:

Field efficiency accounts for turns, overlap, adjustments, plugs, travel inside the field, and other non-raking time.^[8] Use the actual safe working width, actual safe speed, and measured field efficiency from your fields. Brochure width or a best-case speed is not a throughput promise, and irregular fields can erase a wide machine’s theoretical advantage.

The windrow is the output specification

Judge a rake pass by what the pickup receives:

• Uniform density and shape: avoid dense slugs, thin gaps, and large side-to-side changes.
• Pickup fit: keep the windrow inside the baler or chopper pickup with room for steering error.
• Leaf and stem distribution: check for leaf piles on the ground, stem-only windrows, or repeated rolling that separates the crop.
• Drying: avoid a tight rope or twisted windrow that traps wetter forage; do not assume a fluffy-looking windrow is uniformly dry.
• Crop flow: watch for rope, twist, bunching, wrapping, or plugs at the rake and the following pickup.
• Ash and debris: look for dust, scraped soil, stones, and stubble pulled into the windrow.

A rake can improve or harm every item on that list. Set tine height, rotor or wheel angle, PTO speed, ground speed, overlap, working width, and windrow width from the exact operator manual and the observed field condition. Do not copy settings from a different model simply because it belongs to the same rake family.

PTO and tractor compatibility are model-specific

There is no valid category-wide rule that rotary rakes should run at 440–470 PTO rpm. Many are rated for 540 rpm, and the exact model manual controls speed and direction. For example, KUHN’s current GA 4230 T and 4231 T specifications list 540 rpm PTO, drawbar attachment, and a 30 hp minimum PTO requirement.^[10] That example illustrates one model pair; it does not establish a setting for another rotary rake.

Wheel-rake compatibility can be hydraulic rather than PTO-centered. Vermeer’s current VR1428 comparison data lists a hydraulic drive, three double-acting hydraulic remotes, 1,800 psi, 5 gpm, a 22–28 ft raking width, and 10.5 ft transport width.^[12] Again, those are exact-model specifications, not requirements for all wheel or V-rakes.

Before purchase or hookup, verify every applicable item in the exact current manual:

• PTO speed, spline, direction, driveline length, guarding, and drawbar geometry
• Hydraulic flow, pressure, coupler type, number and action of remotes, and return-line requirements
• Hitch type or category, tongue load, tractor mass, front and rear ballast, tire limits, and slope restrictions
• Working width, folded dimensions, transport width and height, transport locks, safety chains, lights, reflectors, and slow-moving-vehicle marking
• Clearance during turns, PTO shaft angles, wheel tracks, overlap, and the permitted operating and transport positions

KUHN directs owners to retrieve the operator manual for the exact machine through MyKUHN.^[11] Other manufacturers use their own portals or dealers. If the serial-specific manual is missing, obtain it before operating or buying.

Rake safety before fieldwork, adjustment, and transport

Inspect guards and shields, PTO driveline, tine arms, wheels and tires, hitch, safety chain, hoses, cylinders, lights, reflectors, transport locks, and loose or broken tines before work. Use a tractor with a ROPS and wear the seat belt. Keep bystanders out of the operating area, and account for slopes, ditches, holes, overhead lines, gates, traffic, and the machine’s folded dimensions.

Before approaching for an adjustment, inspection, or unplugging: park on a stable surface, disengage PTO and other drives, lower the machine, set the parking brake, shut off the engine, remove the key, wait for every part to stop, and relieve or restrain stored hydraulic, spring, and gravity energy according to the manual. Use manufacturer transport locks or approved supports. Never work under an unsupported raised frame.

Penn State warns that a PTO driveline rotates faster than human reaction time, directs operators to keep the system guarded, shut down before cleaning or adjustment, and walk around rather than step over a rotating shaft.^[14] Minnesota Extension likewise directs operators to shut equipment down, turn off the engine, remove the key, and wait for all moving parts before inspection or repair.^[13] Mississippi State’s hazardous-energy guidance adds blocking, bleed-down, isolation, and a test that controls cannot move the machine before service.^[15]

Do not make powered adjustments from outside the tractor unless the exact manual explicitly requires them and gives a safe procedure. Never step over a rotating PTO or reach into moving tines, belts, rotors, wheels, or reels.

Compare total annual cost, not purchase price

A useful comparison puts owned, financed, used, and custom-hire options on the same annual and per-acre basis. Mississippi State separates machinery cost into ownership and operating categories.^[9]

Cost group	User inputs
One-time cash or debt	Purchase price, trade, down payment, loan terms, freight, setup, and immediate repairs
Annual economic ownership	Useful life, residual value, capital recovery or economic depreciation plus opportunity interest, insurance, tax, and housing
Annual operation	Repairs, tines and wear parts, lubrication, rake and tractor fuel, tractor hours, labor, hookup, transport, and downtime
Measured outcome	Actual acres, effective field capacity, passes avoided, ash tests, documented leaf or quality value, and weather-window completion
Alternative	Custom rate, minimum charge, mobilization, scheduling risk, and who supplies tractor, fuel, and labor

Do not count the same capital cost twice. Use a capital-recovery method, or use economic depreciation plus opportunity interest consistently. Do not add loan principal as another annual economic expense on top of either method. Then divide annual ownership and operating cost by measured annual acres or hours. Assign a dollar value to lower ash, retained leaves, or quality only when your forage tests, yields, sale terms, or ration economics document it.

Buying used or hiring custom work

A used-machine listing or custom-work quote should disclose enough detail to compare compatibility and condition without promising performance. Record the exact model, year, serial number, options, operating and transport width, PTO, hydraulic and hitch requirements, condition, known repairs, missing or damaged guards and safety equipment, manual availability, price, taxes, setup, and delivery. Confirm lien status and inspect wear points under a safe, de-energized procedure.

For custom work, write down the exact machine, price unit, minimum charge, mobilization, field-readiness standard, expected scheduling window, who decides whether crop conditions are suitable, and responsibility for stones, debris, access, and crop damage. Neither a used seller nor a custom operator should guarantee throughput, leaf retention, ash, or drying without measured field conditions and a defined method.

A practical final decision

1. Define the crop, end use, moisture window, and windrow the baler or chopper needs.
2. Map mower swath width, actual safe working width, field shape, terrain, stones, gates, and transport route.
3. Eliminate machines that do not match the tractor, manual, hitch, hydraulics, PTO, ballast, transport, or safety requirements.
4. Demo the remaining candidates in representative crop. Record effective acres per hour, fuel and labor, plugs, windrow dimensions, leaves left behind, visible soil disturbance, and forage ash when it matters.
5. Compare total annual cost with the custom-hire alternative and local parts support.

Bottom line: Wheel rakes, including V-rakes, can offer wide coverage with a relatively simple crop-moving action. Rotary and parallel-bar rakes create different delivery patterns and may better fit specific crops, windrows, or fields. Mergers can reduce soil contact where ash has documented value. Inverters solve a narrower turning and drying problem. The correct choice is the one that safely produces the required windrow, with measured losses and annual cost your operation can support.

Frequently asked questions

Is a V-rake different from a wheel rake?

No. A V-rake is a wheel-rake configuration with two wings of rake wheels that deliver crop toward a center windrow. Compare it with other wheel-rake configurations, rotary rakes, parallel-bar rakes, mergers, and inverters by the work each machine must do.

Should I rake alfalfa with dew on it?

Light dew or high humidity can make dry alfalfa leaves less brittle, so Extension guidance allows gentle early-morning raking when forage below about 40% moisture must be moved. Surface dew is not safe baling moisture: measure internal crop moisture separately and use crop-, climate-, package-, and source-specific limits.

What PTO speed does a rotary rake need?

Use the exact model operator manual. Many rotary rakes are rated for 540 rpm, but PTO speed, direction, driveline, hydraulics, hitch, ballast, transport locks, and working width are model-specific. A dealer comment or setting from another rake is not a safe substitute for the manual.

Which hay rake produces the least ash?

In a replicated 2015 alfalfa trial across Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, merger and sidebar-rake treatments had the least ash and wheel-rake treatments had the greatest. The ranges overlapped, and setup and field conditions still matter, so use forage tests rather than treating the result as a universal guarantee.

Sources and method

This refresh removed forum anecdotes, brand endorsements, universal buying rules, unsupported price and speed comparisons, and the false prohibition on raking with dew. It separates measured trial results from Extension recommendations and exact-model OEM examples. Research scope is stated beside each number; no result is transferred to a different crop, climate, machine design, or operating condition without qualification.

1. K.J. Shinners and R.T. Schuler, “Equipment to Rake and Merge Hay and Forage,” University of Wisconsin Extension.
2. University of Minnesota Extension, “Hay rake type impacts ash content in hay”.
3. Neu et al. (2017), “Hay rake-type effect on ash and forage nutritive values of alfalfa hay,” Agronomy Journal 109:2163–2171.
4. University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension, “Field Drying Forage for Hay and Haylage”.
5. University of Massachusetts Extension, “Harvest Management for High Quality Alfalfa Hay”.
6. Ohio State University Extension, “Forage Harvest Management to Speed Drying and Store High Quality Forage”.
7. New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension, Circular 668, “Reducing Harvest and Post-Harvest Losses of Alfalfa and Other Hay”.
8. Iowa State University Extension, PM 696, “Estimating the Field Capacity of Farm Machines”.
9. Mississippi State University Extension, “Farm Machinery Cost Calculations”.
10. KUHN, GA 4230 T / 4231 T current product specifications.
11. KUHN, official operator-manual access.
12. Vermeer, VR1428 current comparison specifications.
13. University of Minnesota Extension, “Tractor and rural roadway safety”.
14. Penn State Extension, “Power Take-Off (PTO) Safety”.
15. Mississippi State University Extension, “Controlling Hazardous Energy”.

Hero image: “Lely 915 CD Vario Hibiscus hay rake 2014-09-19,” showing a red twin-rotor rotary rake folded for transport near Hjorthede, Denmark; photograph by Slaunger (Kim Hansen), own work, Wikimedia Commons, photographed September 19, 2014; licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image visually verified August 16, 2026.